Jean-Luc Brassard speaks to the media after being named Canada's Chef de Mission for the 2016 Rio Olympics, in Montreal on Thursday Dec. 4, 2014. Brassard resigned as chef de mission for Canada's 2016 Olympic team because he felt he no longer had the full support of the Canadian Olympic Committee.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
The word "ethics" appears in the agenda for the Canadian Olympic Committee's weekend gathering in Regina. So does "governance."
But the phrase "public reckoning" does not.
Former freestyle skier Jean-Luc Brassard's decision to quit as chef de mission for this summer's Rio Olympics has sharpened the focus on a question the COC has not yet answered to the satisfaction of its critics: Who was made aware of harassment allegations involving former president Marcel Aubut and what did they do about it?
Tricia Smith, who was elected COC president last fall, has apologized publicly for organizational failings. Top managers did likewise at a staff retreat this winter.
A COC-ordered investigation into a formal complaint of sexual harassment said unspecified officials knew of repeated incidents. There has not been any kind of public accounting by either the board or senior management of who knew what, when, about Aubut's alleged behaviour.
Some members of the amateur-sports community believe it is an essential precondition for the healing to begin.
In the words of former Olympic champion synchronized swimmer Sylvie Fréchette, "the wrong people are leaving the COC."
"There's a crisis, and we should stop pretending otherwise. All we're asking for is transparency," she said Thursday. "We're asking the COC to live by the same standards that athletes and coaches do."
In an interview this week, Brassard said many of his efforts to prod senior officials into action were met with considerable resistance.
"I didn't just make friends internally. I get along great with Tricia, but I don't think I can say the same of everyone in management," said the 43-year-old former Olympic champion, who first went public with his concerns in February. "I did get a lot of support from various people in the sporting federations, who said they feel the same way, but can't really say so publicly."
Indeed, criticism from the sports organizations (or NSOs) – all of whom will be represented in Regina – has either been muted or non-existent.
Officials often cite proximity to the Summer Games as a reason not to speak out forcefully, although Brassard noted "it seems like we're always six months away from the next Olympics."
Nor does the COC seem much inclined to engage with its critics. A message to a COC spokesperson seeking comment in light of Brassard's sortie was not returned.
The origins of what Brassard has called a "cult of silence" are both cultural and historical.
"You can think of the Vatican and the International Olympic Committee as a cut-and-paste job. Both are centred on a religion," said Paul Ohl, an author and former adviser to Quebec City's bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics. "Each has high church officials, and priests … it's always had a very princely culture."
Milena Parent, a sport-management professor at the University of Ottawa and an expert on both governance and international movements, said the world Olympic body is "an old-boys club. It was literally created by rich old boys. It was never about inclusivity."
The IOC, she continued, "provides no accounts to any government in the world … and the COC is essentially the representative of the IOC in Canada, it's not the other way around."
Still, Parent said, recent corruption and doping scandals have inspired a series of major changes in international sport organizations. Even the IOC is hiring fully independent auditors.
The COC would do well to listen more closely to independent voices, Parent said.
"Having someone who is inside the problem fix the problem is a problem," Parent said.
It's entirely possible the COC will unveil a series of reforms this weekend – a committee has been working over the past few months on new governance proposals, for example.
Thus far, the work has been shielded from public scrutiny, but that could be about to change. Some attendees expect the various committee reports to be the subject of question-and-answer sessions.
"This meeting in Regina is going to be very important as far as setting the tone for the new COC and what it's going to look like," Olympic champion swimmer and former chef de mission Mark Tewksbury said earlier this week. Tewksbury will attend this weekend's COC sessions.
Tewksbury has seldom been shy about criticizing the IOC and the COC – he expressed surprise earlier this year that no board members had resigned – but admitted he's been won over by Smith.
"There is a process happening and I'm often baffled by the pace of committees, but I feel like the intentions to do the right thing are there," he said.